Run Fast!
by Wind Rider 12
Summary: Kiera of the Wood, daughter of Robin Hood (sorry for the rhyms) is being forced to marry the Prince. Ok i suck at summaries, and i know none of this would really happen, but just R&R. Please?
1. Beginnings

I stood in the center of the clearing, very aware that one of my father's merry men was somewhere behind me, and getting closer. I ducked and sidled to the side, missing being hit by Little John's oaken staff. Turning rapidly to one side, swinging my own oaken staff around, I kneeled, and smiled as my staff hit the back of L.J.'s ankle and he catapulted backwards with the force of my blow.

"No fair, you're small and quick, and I'm big and slow. Plus, you always know where I am! I'm telling you, it isn't fair!" L.J. pretended to whine. "Kiera, we need to find you someone your own size to fight!"

"But all the people my size are wimps, and they wouldn't be able to do a simple block or roll." I put on my best, 'But I'm too good to practice with anyone but you' pout. "Please, just one more session and then I'll ask father to train with me."

I could see the thoughts running around inside my teacher's head. 'Train _with_ you, or be trained _by_ you?' Everyone knew that I was the best staff fighter that traveled with the merry men. I helped L.J. up, and then slung my staff over my shoulders.

I, with my light brown hair, hazel blue eyes, and small form (next to L.J., that is, I'm actually very tall for my age) held the five and a half foot stick out in front of me, crossing it with L.J.'s. I called, "One, two, three, GO!"

The staffs came down, crashing into one another with a painful sounding SMACK! High block, middle jab, high jab, low sweep. I had L.J. on his toes as he jumped over the sweep. Crescent moon drill came next, so fast that all you could see was a brown blur and my blank face. I knocked L.J.'s staff out of his extra large hands and set my staff at the 'kill' position on his neck. He grinned at me, knowing that he had nothing left to teach me. I grinned back and let him go.

"Good fight." I was surprised to see Robin jump out of the tree above and to the right of me. I beamed at my father's praise.

"You never cease to amaze me, daughter." Robin shook his head at me. "Now go change. We're going into town." My smile faded into a confused frown. I gave Robin a quizzical look. Why were we going into town? I knew better then to say that out loud, I would just get the 'Never question your superiors!' lecture.

I ran back to camp, and in the middle of the rest of the men's tents, I found my own. Pulling on my good deer skin, fur lined, knee high boots, a short softened deer skin skirt, and a softened deer skin vest, I brushed and rebraided my hair, then ran out to meet my father with the horses.

Archeren, my black mare, was already brushed and saddled, which was odd. Robin usually made me do all this myself. It meant that we were doing something important, and he wanted to leave fast.

I pulled Archeren out of the patch of clovers by the side of the road and mounted. We were well on our way before I noticed that my bow and quiver were not where I usually put them, slung across Archeren's back, just behind the saddle, where I could get to them easily. My father was also unarmed, which meant he was either trading or negotiating, but he never took me to do these things before. What was going on?

Robin and I cantered our horses down the road towards the gate that lead into town. When we reached it we slowed and walked through. My father lead me through the maze of streets, allies, and lanes, and finally stopped in front of the palace, where we were being waited for.

King John, his wife and his son stood there, watching the thief and the savage, but pretty, girl approach. The girl cast wary glances at all the guards, and they seemed to get her silent 'come closer at your peril'.

With the horse still moving, I swung my right leg over and slid down Archeren's left side. The mare took the cue and stopped moving as my feet hit the ground. Patting my horse lovingly, I placed the reigns into the stable master's waiting hands and walked up the steps with my father to meet the royalty. Automatically, I bowed, not realizing that I was supposed to curtsy, even though curtsying was impossible in the skirt I was wearing, saying, "Your Majesties, Your Highness," and nodding to them all.

The king raised an eyebrow and glanced at his son, who was smiling out of one side of his mouth and thinking, 'She isn't one bit scared of us. This shall be fun.'

I glanced at my father. He was glaring at me. I shrugged as if to say, 'What'd I do wrong?'

The queen decided to stop the awkward silence at the girl's uncivilized manner. "Come in. It's cold out here."

The three men followed, tailed by a _very _confused me. When they got inside, I apologized profusely for taking my father and promised that we would be back very shortly.

Pulling him into a hall outside the room that they were using, I turned to face him. "Father, I don't _care_ if I'm disrespecting my elders. What the _hell_ are we _doing_ here?!"

He sighed. "We're bargaining for your future."

"Huh? My future is with you and the Merry Men! Hunting and thieving and protecting the innocent! WHY ARE WE HERE?" I was really confused.

"Your place is not with us. It's right here. Hunting and thieving and protecting the innocent, as you call it, is _not_ a job for women."

So _that_ was what this was all about. All the curtsying and bowing and secrets. It was all because I would be working in the palace.

"So I'm gonna be a maid?" I inquired. That was an obvious step down from my rank now.

Robin shook his head. "You're going to be married."

My eye's widened. That threw all my expectations out the window. "To who?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"The prince."

I was on the virge of fainting when the prince, my husband-to-be, stuck his head out the door. "My parents are getting impatient." He whispered. "You'd better get in here fast."

I followed him and Robin into the room again, half in shock, my mind still not used to the fact that I would be a princess. I actually _never_ would be used to it. Did this mean that I would have to wear corsets? And those _amazingly_ uncomfortable dresses with the low necks that showed half your breasts? That _wasn't_ the most comforting thought.

Sitting down on the bright red couch across form the royalty, Robin greeted the King, Queen, and Prince, and introduced me as Kiera of the Wood. It was one of my many nicknames around camp, and one of the less violent ones, too. My favorite was thieflett, but only L.J. and a few others call me that.

"Can she sing?" the prince's question pulled me out of my phase.

"Of course," looking at me, Robin said, "Go on, Kiera."

I stood up and walked to the center of the room. Taking a deep breath, I sang.

"_The wolves run at my call,_

The wind blows at my wish,

The birds sing at my thought,

The world is at my command.

The Earth spins at my whim,

The whales talk to me,

The sky colors itself at my song.

If I were a bird,

I would spread my wings and fly.

If I were a wolf,

I would run.

If I were a monster,

I'd hide in my cave,

In the mountains,

That belong to me."

I finished the song that I had learned at age two, and looked at my audience. The king's eyebrows were up again, the queen was staring at her and the prince was smiling. Robin was no where to be seen. I blushed and sat down.

"Where did my father go?" I asked on instinct.

"He's not here?" No one had noticed when he had left or knew where he was. They had all been wrapped up by the amazing performance.

"Where did you learn to sing so well?" the queen inquired.

"Father says I get it from my mother, even though I don't know who my mother is." I replied respectfully.

I could hear the maids get back to their work, their shoes tapping lightly on the marble floor.

"Do you get your good looks from your mother, as well?" The prince and king inquired at the same time. I blushed and the queen glared at them both for being rude.

"It's ok, really." I reassured the queen. "I told, I don't know who my mother is, so I don't know what she looked like, so I don't know if I look like her. She died when I was two. Right after teaching me the song that I sung for you."

"So you do know her!" the prince yelled triumphantly. The king and queen both glared at him.

"No. See, she never told anyone her name, and I was too young to be able to remember what she looked like."

"You and your father have our sympathies." The queen said sorrowfully.

"I thank you, milady." I replied. Then my father walked in.

"I had to use the privy." He apologized. Then, beckoning me to follow him, he walked out.


	2. Kidnapped!

"Kiera, I have no choice! You have to do this! He chose you out of the million girls that were there! Just do it and don't make me punish you!"

"You'd beat your own daughter? A daughter who can beat you back?" My voice was low and menacing, reminding Robin of how much he'd actually taught me. _No wonder this is hell for her! She wants to fight back, her instincts tell her to fight back, but I won't let her._ Robin's guilt was enough to drive him to turn and walk away.

Behind him he heard, "Son of a bitch. You can't even stand up to your own daughter. I should have known."

This drove Robin off the edge. Grabbing his dagger, he whipped around and brought the dagger to my throat. I didn't move. my throat didn't close up, I just smiled. There was no fear in my voice when I said, "Go ahead. Kill me, Robin. You'd save me the trouble."

Robin scowled at me. Knowing he would feel worse after he killed me. Letting me go, he said, "Don't try anything I wouldn't do." Which wasn't saying much.

My smile broadened. "What _you wouldn't do._ Good job, Robin, you've given me a chance."

I was packing when L.J. came looking for me.

"You made your father really angry."

"I'm calling him Robin from now on. I'm unwilling to refer to him as _father _any longer. A _father _doesn't _do_ this kind of thing to an _unwilling daughter_."

"He wants you to have supper with him." L.J.'s voice was quiet. He was afraid of my rage.

"Well, tell him that I am God damned disinclined to acquits to his request!" I was yelling now. "Since I obviously have no place here, I am going elsewhere. A small village on the other side of the forest is in need of a weapons trainer and I intend to help them. If you have a problem with that go _tell it to a tree_!" I screamed this last part in L.J.'s face before stalking out of the now empty tent and starting to pack it up, with L.J. still in it.

With my pack, provisions, possessions, and tent, I stalked to the stable to ready my horse. Archeren was aware of my rage, and pinned me to the side of the stall and glared at me. I smiled at my amazingly intelligent horse, my rage only half forgotten.

We rode out of the stable and onto the dirt road. Walking along at a snails pace, I consulted my horse on where we would go. "East or west, Archeren, because in the western kingdoms they train young girls as assassins, or the Queen's personal guard. I would probably make a good assassin, with my seven senses. And I would make lots of money. Most likely, more than enough for the two of us.

"Or we could go to the east, to the Academy. That's the place I told you about, where they train young people, such as myself, to fight, among other things. We could definitely go either way, but I can't go both ways so we'll pick one. So, east or west, Archeren?"

"Neither. You're coming with us." A slimy voice said from behind me. Someone grabbed my feet, which were still in the stirrups. My mind wanted to get off the horse and fight, but something told me just to whistle to Archeren and gallop away, which _still _didn't do me much good, since the men who were holding my ankles were on horseback.

"Why has fate turned against me?" I screamed at the heavens as I was pulled off my horse and was blindfolded and gagged.

It was night. The night was made darker by the blind fold, but at least they took the gag out. I was in a covered wagon, tied tightly and stuffed into the back. I licked my lips and tried to breathe deeply, but was stopped by the cords cutting into my flesh.

The smell of mold was heavy in the wagon. There was another smell in the wagon that took me longer to identify. Other people. At first I thought it was just clothes, but no, there were definitely other living people in there with me. This made me suspect that my kidnappers were going to sell me as a slave.

Swallowing my fear I whispered, "Is anyone else here?" Immediately after I spoke I heard movement.

"Y-Y-Yes." A child's voice whispered back.

"Where are you? Are you wearing a blindfold, too?"

"N-No."

"Will you come untie me, then? Please?" there was more movement. Shuffling feet coming closer. The cords that were wrapped around me loosened, then came off altogether. Then small hands removed my blindfold.

There was barely any light in the wagon, but I could tell that there were at least seven other people in the wagon with me. There were two children, huddling together next to a young woman, about thirty. She was sewing.

There was an elderly man sitting on a trunk in the farthest corner. I couldn't tell what he was doing. Then there was a young man about the woman's age, maybe younger, sitting beside the older man. The last person I saw was an ancient lady with withered hands and thin, gray hair. She was knitting socks and sweaters, sitting on a wooden bench, looking very uncomfortable. There went the slave idea. No one would buy an old, decrepit woman.

I sat up slowly, knowing that pain would come eventually. My lower back was already on fire.

"Does anyone know why we're here?" I asked the miserable looking people, wishing there were something I could do to help them.

"We're being taken to the palace." The mother of the children spoke softly, almost so softly that I couldn't hear her.

All I could say was, "Dammit."


	3. Pretty dresses

Prince Alexander (**A/N** I'm really not sure what his name is, or if King John really _had _a son and wife, so please don't kill me) paced around his bedchamber. If the kidnapping had gone correctly then the wagon should be shipping her from her home to the palace at just this minute. She wouldn't be here for another hour or so, but that was okay, he could wait. But sometimes waiting wasn't good for the mind, so Alex decided to go for a ride.

Walking out to the Royal Stables, Stefan, the groomsman, jumped down from his loft. He knew better than to try to saddle the Prince's horse when there was no one around to see him do it for himself, but he liked to talk to the kid.

"Why was Robin 'ere?" Everyone knew who Robin was, what his face looked like, everything. But Stefan knew there was a hidden reason for him and the girl to be here.

"It's nothing you should bother with, Stefan." Alex never took his eyes off the saddle.

"And why was that girl with 'im? Does he usually bring his mistresses to conference with da king?"

"It wasn't his mistress, it was his daughter." Alex sounded slightly annoyed. "You know, Stefan, I came out here for a peaceful ride in the woods and I get battered with questions that I don't feel like answering from you of all people!" Stefan took a step back, not because he thought Alex would hit him, but because that Alex was still staring at his saddle. This meant that he was very angry and didn't want to take it out on innocent souls.

Alex galloped through the gates, telling the guards that he was going for a ride. Making his way through the woods, he found a small, deserted section of the Road and followed it.

One hour later

Kiera's POV:

Over the rumble of the wagon's wheels and the soft thump of Archeren's feet next to the wagon, I could hear the distant thunder of hooves on packed dirt. Only one horse, riding smoothly, cantering as if the rider was in a hurry but not that much of one.

__

Who can it be? We haven't had any interruptions yet, and I've been in this stupid wagon for hours. I was pacing. I was worrying what I would do if I had to ask Robin to get me out of whatever pit I'd fallen into. But the new set of hooves made me set aside these thoughts and focus on what was coming and why.

The wagon stopped, and the driver stepped out, making the wagon shake. I listened carefully to the conversation the driver and the newcomer had.

"Do you have the girl?" the voice was young, male, and slightly familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd heard it before.

"Yeah. She's in the back. Do you have the money?" the slimy voice that I had heard before I was knocked out replied. I heard the jingle of coins and footsteps coming closer. Silently, I dove behind the trunk I'd found my stuff and grabbed two knives, slammed them into my boots, then slung my bow around a shoulder along with my quiver. The door of the wagon slid open as I stood up.

And there stood someone I had never planned on seeing again.

Alex's POV:

I had hoped that the minute she saw me she would beam and jump lightly out of the back of the wagon into my arms. No such luck. She scowled and glared at me. She even made a motion to spit on me. There was a hatred burning in her eyes that made me take an involuntary step back.

"Uh. Come with me, Kiera."

"Why should I?" she was still glaring at me.

"Uh. Because I just bought all rights and privileges to you" this time she really did spit on me.

"I'd rather be suck in this hellhole of a shit box than go anywhere with you," she retorted pleasantly, but the words weren't at all pleasant.

"Please, just get out of the wagon, you can bring all your possessions with you, and get on your horse." She glared at me throughout the entire process of doing this. When I asked her if she needed help getting on her horse she replied, "Touch me and face the dire consequences." Sadly, I took this as an empty-headed threat and grabbed her chin to tell her that I would take no lip. Instantly I had a knee in my groin and cold steel at my throat.

"Say Uncle."

"Wha?"

"Say it!" She presses the knife harder onto my throat.

"Okay, okay! Uncle!"

She pulled back muttering, "Wimp. How could _you _ever pass for a prince?"

3 hours later

Kiera's POV:

My life has just been ruined. Everything Robin ever taught me I'm now forbidden to use, not that I'll heed that rule. All my plans for myself have been burned to ashes. My life is now hell.

I tried to escape him on the way back to his palace. I bolted for the woods. It didn't work. Even though I'm more experienced in rough terrain, he still found me. I hated him.

And now I hate him even more.

When we arrived at his god-forsaken gold-encrusted guilded cage, he led me to a suite on the second floor. He opened the door and I gasped in disgust. He seemed pleased by my reaction and told me that this would be my home until we married.

I was even more disgusted, but I didn't want to make the poor slaves have to clean up if I spit on him or the floor.

The floor was so shiny I could see my face in the white marble. The drapes were a light pink color, as were the bedclothes. A light pink silken nightgown was laid out on the four-poster bed, and a robe was hanging over the corner of the changing screen. All the frills and lady-ness irked me like nothing he had done yet had.

Later still

The maid Alex has assigned me was showing me dresses, obviously trying to coax a reaction out of me. After an hour of trying to no avail, she whispered, "Well, I rather like this one."

Before my eyes was by far the most me-like dress ever made, except if it was made by me. It was perfect. The actual dress was just a tan slip-like thing, but attached to the neckline were strips of purple and maroon cloth that just fell down the front and back. The strips of cloth just hung down, held on by only twelve stitches at the neck. No cages, no corsets, and just a little stump of a train. I couldn't help it. I smiled.

The maid saw this and was instantly grinning. "I thought you'd like it, mistress. If I were you I would wear it too." For the first time in my life I actually wanted to wear a dress. It was phenomenal!

The maid didn't seem to share my utter shock, and instantly began fussing over what I should do to my hair and ordering up all the needed shades of make-up. She steered me over to the vanity, sat me down on the bench, and started to unbraid my hair.

"Whoa! No, stop! I want my hair to be braided!" I snapped out of my state of shock and panicked. I had never worn my hair in any other style than braided.

"Of course mistre-" I cut her off.

"Please don't call me mistress. Treat me like you would a sister."

"Alright. We'll braid it." She undid my hair entirely and then brushed it thourough. When she was done it shone. Next she pulled it into a high ponytail on the back on my head, leaving a clump of my bangs hanging across my temples. She braided what was hanging out the ponytail and wrapped it around itself. Then she curled the pieces of bangs that she left hanging there. When she was done and I looked in the mirror, I thought: _I'm beautiful_.


	4. Author's Note

I'm really sorry that I'm not updating. Just so you know, Wind Rider 12 will never write another story, because her alter ego, Bombshell9, has inhabited her body and will never realease her (unless given several thousand pounds of **_purple Skittles _**left in a leather suitcase at the corner of Manhattan and Third).

I'm going to delete this account, but I have some people who put me on thier Author Alert list and that made me feel really bad, so I had to bid you all a fond farewell. This is the last thing Wind Rider 12 will ever upload. I'll miss you all!

I'm deleting Wind Rider 12 on August 1st, to let every one see this (but I might forget and leave it for a few weeks after, just cause I'm stupid, so forgive me)

__

NOTE: not going to finish Run Fast, never going to give From the Future a better ending

Much love and several million cookies to **_Kiko Kamia_** and **_UlrichAndYumi4Ever_**! You're the best.


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